HARNESS-MPA · Harnessing Nature’s Heterogeneity to Safeguard Marine Protected Areas

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Project objective

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are crucial to global and EU strategies to halt biodiversity loss, support climate adaptation, and sustain ocean-based livelihoods. Yet their potential is increasingly undermined by Extreme Climate Events (ECEs)—especially Marine Heatwaves (MHWs)—which cause mass mortality and long-term disruption, even within well-managed MPAs. As ECEs intensify, there is an urgent need for tools that can mitigate these impacts and safeguard MPA conservation goals and long-term effectiveness. HARNESS-MPA proposes a novel resilience-based framework for climate-smart MPAs, centred on the untapped potential of spatial heterogeneity—the diversity of species traits and habitat structures—to buffer ecosystems against MHWs. The project addresses three interlinked questions: WHAT heterogeneity features promote resilience, HOW these operate across ecosystems, and WHERE they can be most effectively applied. First, I will lead a global meta-analysis to identify heterogeneity features linked to ecosystem resilience under ECEs (WHAT). I will then use a unique long-term dataset from the Mediterranean coralligenous —structurally complex, biodiversity-rich habitats increasingly exposed to MHWs—to test how biotic and abiotic heterogeneity shape real-world responses, using trait-based modelling, threshold-based resilience metrics, and time-series analyses (HOW). Finally, I will bridge the host group’s strong local partnerships with MPA managers and the globally recognised Response Diversity Network to apply Response Capacity modelling and help map resilience hotspots under climate scenarios (WHERE). This fellowship will be a springboard to independence—equipping me with a cutting-edge statistical toolkit, hands-on teaching and supervision experience, and cross-institutional collaborations. It will strengthen my publication record and position me to lead future research on climate-resilient marine conservation aligned with EU strategies and global biodiversity goals.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA · BarcelonaCoordinatorSpain
• UNIVERSITAT ZURICH · ZurichSwitzerland

Links

• View on CORDIS
• DOI: 10.3030/101273358